


Halloween at Hyperion

by Sassy_assassin



Series: Hyperion Date Nights [2]
Category: Borderlands, Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Haunted Houses, M/M, Nisha is briefly in it, Pumpkin carving, Rhys and Jack fight a wereskag, Vasquez is mentioned, and Jack gets injured (slightly), mild violence and blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-22
Updated: 2016-10-22
Packaged: 2018-08-23 22:48:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8345782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sassy_assassin/pseuds/Sassy_assassin
Summary: Halloween at Hyperion is always a big deal, but Handsome Jack goes all out this year by not only carving pumpkins, but with the annual Halloween Ball and the addition of a haunted house. A sort of sequel to Call Me, but can be read by itself.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write something for Halloween and I know that there was interest in a sequel for my fic, Call Me, so here is some more of Rhys and Jack doing various Halloween related activities. Also, thanks to my friend Chloe for helping write the end of this story! She also drew this fantastic picture of Rhys in his sexy devil costume, so go check it out!
> 
> http://cococoops.tumblr.com/post/152311742598/i-did-a-thing-my-friend-wrote-an-amazing-rhack

Pumpkin, pumpkin?

 

“Wow,” Rhys said, staring a little apprehensively at the massive amount of work going into redecorating the Hub of Heroism.

“Yeah, he’s really going all out this year,” Vaughn replied, admiring the newest Halloween decorations.

Halloween was always a pretty big ordeal at Helios ever since Jack took control of Hyperion, as it seemed to be the CEO’s favorite holiday. Which made sense, since it was literally an excuse to scare and torment other people. Rhys didn’t have a problem with Halloween, but he was always slightly on edge whenever October rolled around as Jack liked to really get into the holiday; putting up terrifying robotic displays of some of the scarier Pandoran wildlife. At least, Rhys hoped they were robotic. He grimaced as he saw what looked like half of a bandit being torn about by skags while recorded shrieks echoed around the building. 

The amount of bloody corpses hanging from black, skeletal looking trees was alarming, and Rhys tried not to look too close as they made their way to their usual lunch place. 

“He even changed the names of the food,” Vaughn said as the two looked up at the menu to order.

“Skeleton Rakk soup? What even is that?” Rhys asked, deciding to stay away from anything that sounded too suspect. He ended up ordering a burger, which had been renamed to a ‘bloody wereskag burger’. Upon receiving his food, Rhys stared at it for a little while, looking at the ridiculous amount of ketchup that had been heaped upon it in order to simulate blood. He took a bite, happy that it at least tasted normal, and not like Jack had actually insisted that it be made of whatever a wereskag was.

Yvette spotted them from across the room and made her way over to join them. Rhys opened his mouth to greet her as she sat down, but was interrupted by a loud scream coming from the other side of the dining area. He looked over to see an employee, eyes wide as one of the animatronic bullymongs loomed over them and then slowly retreated back to its original position. Fantastic, so the displays apparently moved.

“Great, because that’s not going to give me a heart attack later,” Rhys muttered as he took another bite of his burger.

“You’re such a scaredy-cat Rhys,” Yvette teased, stealing some of Rhys’s fries. Rhys frowned at her.

“I am not. I just don’t appreciate things that look like they could kill me, jumping out at me,” he pouted.

“Sure,” Yvette said entirely unconvinced by his argument, “and does your boyfriend know about that?” 

“No, and he’s not my boyfriend,” Rhys replied slightly defensively. Ever since he’d started going on dates with the Hyperion CEO, Rhys had been wondering what exactly their relationship was. Sure, Jack had said that he wasn’t simply doing it out of boredom, but that didn’t exactly mean that they were officially  _ dating. _

Rhys knew he should just ask Jack. After all, communication was key to a good relationship (if that’s what they were in) and it would save Rhys from having to worry about the issue one way or the other, but he was too afraid to. What if Jack didn’t want a serious relationship? What if the man was embarrassed by him? The CEO in a relationship with a middle-manager from his own company, how would that even look? Probably not great.

“Whatever.” Yvette rolled her eyes at Rhys, taking a bite of the fry she’d stolen from him. He frowned at her, but he’d long given up trying to stop her from taking his food. “Did you guys hear about the haunted house that’s being set up? Yvette asked, changing the subject.

“Haunted house?” Rhys asked, feeling slight trepidation at the thought. The last time he went to a haunted house both Sasha and Fiona had to physically drag him through it. 

“There are children here that are less scared than you Rhys,” Fiona had stated, rolling her eyes at him. 

“Well, I can’t help it if they’re immune to near death experiences!” Rhys shouted, trying to back out of the entrance to the haunted house.

“Near death experiences? It’s a person in a ghost costume.”

“And not even a good one,” Sasha chimed in.

That had been a couple years ago and Rhys was still not over it. He hadn’t been near a haunted house since. He looked back at Yvette to ask her more about the haunted house, when an announcement started up.

“Attention all Hyperion employees, Handsome Jack here! Some of you may have heard about the haunted house that’s being constructed in Helios, sooo I better see all you idiots there unless you wanna become a permanent part of the decor. And by that, I mean your lifeless corpse being used as a Halloween decoration. Which, honestly might make it more entertaining for me, so go for it.”

“He’s making it mandatory?” Rhys asked as the announcement ended, already dreading having to go through. 

“I’m sure you don’t have to go if you don’t want. It’s not like he’s going to do anything to you,” Vaughn said, but Rhys wasn’t sure. It’s not like he thought Jack would kill him, but the CEO would most certainly never let him live it down. 

Rhys looked down at his phone as he felt it go off, noticing the message from Jack.

**Jack:** Heya kitten ;) Come to the loading bay, I’ve got something to show you.

Rhys looked at the text suspiciously, not sure what Jack was referring to. And why did he want to meet him at the loading bay? He texted back a ‘be there in a minute’ and said a quick bye to his friends before heading down.

“Jack?” Rhys said as he walked into the area where Hyperion received most of their shipments. He wasn’t sure exactly what part of the loading bay Jack had wanted him in, and he didn’t see the other man. Rhys hoped that Jack wasn’t trying to pull some kind of trick and scare him, as he walked further into the almost empty loading area. As he got further in, he saw what appeared to be a large statue in the corner. As he got closer, he heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Jack grinning at him.

“Yeah, I got that as part of the decorations. Gonna put it in the haunted house, maybe get the R&D guys to animate it,” Jack explained. “Can you believe he makes these things and sells them?” Jack snorted, as Rhys gave him a confused look.

“Who?” Rhys asked.

“Shod or Shadow or whatever.” Jack waved his hand around, simply not caring enough to actual recall the man’s name. 

“You mean Shade?” Rhys said.

“Oh my god that’s right, I still can’t believe you went on a date with that weirdo,” Jack laughed, while Rhys frowned at him.

“What even is it?” Rhys pointed to the taxidermied creature, trying to steer the subject away from his former one-time date. It looked somewhat like a skag, but it was up on its hind legs like a person.

“Wereskag,” Jack replied, while Rhys gave him an unimpressed look.

“A wereskag? Really Jack?”

“Oh come on Rhysie, look at it. You can’t say that wouldn’t scare the shit out of ya if you saw that running after you. It’s gonna terrify those nerds when I put it in the haunted house,” Jack grinned, his eyes lighting up as he looked at Rhys.

“I guess…” Rhys answered, hoping that he never had to actually see it in action.

 

***

“Rhysie!” Jack shouted as he practically barged into Rhys’s apartment. Rhys wasn’t too surprised as he’d been expecting him, but he still frowned at the unnecessary bang his door made when it hit the wall behind it. “God, you need a bigger apartment,” Jack muttered not for the first time, as he made his way in.

“I like my apartment thank you very much,” Rhys answered.

“Whatever. Anyway, look what I’ve got. A pumpkin for ya, pumpkin,” Jack grinned at the pet name as he held up a large orange pumpkin for Rhys, who took it and replied with a slightly confused ‘thanks’ and placed it on a nearby table. “Figured we could carve ‘em and watch Return of the Skag Slayer because I’m, well Handsome Jack, and got an advanced copy,” Jack winked at Rhys.

“I thought we were going out,” Rhys frowned. He’d already changed for their dinner date, and looked down at his clothes. These clothes were way too nice to be carving pumpkins in, even if he still would have been underdressed for whatever they had been going.

“Yeah, I changed my mind,” Jack replied, not seeming to think it was a big deal. But it was. Or at least to Rhys it was, and not because of the clothes. It seemed lately that they seemed to be hanging out more either at Jack’s apartment or Rhys’s, instead of actually going out anywhere. Staying in was nice, but what if the reason they were staying in was because Jack didn’t want to be seen with him? 

All of Rhys’s anxieties about whatever it was they were doing, flared up and he tried to work up the courage to just ask Jack about what exactly was going in with them, but instead all he said was, “I’m not dressed for this.” Which, seemed to be a reoccurring theme in their relationship. Jack apparently never really put much thought into informing Rhys of what he should be wearing on their dates and more often than not, Rhys felt completely out of place whenever they would show up to somewhere extremely fancy. Only this time, it was the complete opposite.

“Well go change,” Jack rolled his eyes as if the solution was obvious. Which, to him it was because Rhys had yet to explain that the clothes weren’t the problem. “Chop chop kiddo, I heard there’s a scene where some guy’s head explodes and his eyes pop out,” he grinned, already beginning to set up the movie. 

Rhys frowned, but walked away to go change into more casual clothing. He returned to the living area to see Jack with a knife in hand, looking at the pumpkin angrily. Rhys grabbed some paper towels from the kitchen area to put under the pumpkins, and walked over to Jack.

“Need any help there handsome?” Rhys teased as Jack continued to glare at the pumpkin.

“Nah, I’ve just never really...do I just stab it?” Jack said, talking half to himself as Rhys blinked in surprise.

“Wait, you’ve never carved a pumpkin before?”

“Like I have time to carve pumpkins all the time cupcake,” Jack replied, but his tone was slightly defensive. Rhys tried not to laugh, but he was curious as to why Jack would change their dinner plans to carving pumpkins if it was something that he’d never done. The older man generally never let it be known that he wasn’t good at something, and it was rare to see him so out of his element. It was kind of nice. Made Jack appear more human, not just the intangible Hyperion CEO. Despite his doubts about why Jack had decided to change their plans, Rhys was happy to be spend the night carving pumpkins. It was something that he’d enjoyed doing as a kid and hadn’t realized how much he’d missed doing it over the years. Rhys smiled as he grabbed a knife of his own.

“You have to hollow it out first.” Rhys pointed towards where the stem was, using his knife to cut around it. After getting the top out, he began to pull out the insides, placing them on the paper towels that he’d neatly laid out on the ground. He saw Jack narrow his eyes at him, then began to copy what Rhys was doing. Jack had started the movie in the background, and Rhys continued to scoop out the inner part of the pumpkin to a cacophony of screams as skags tore people apart on screen. He then looked over to see how Jack was doing, and was surprised to see the man was already beginning to carve out a face on the pumpkin. He seemed to be free-handing it, but Rhys couldn’t tell how it looked yet.

Rhys thought about what he wanted to put on his pumpkin, but ultimately decided to go a more traditional route. He wasn’t the best artist, and he didn’t want to spend too much time on it seeing as Jack was already ahead of him somehow. Still, he looked up a simple pattern looked easy enough to follow,on his ECHO-eye and sent it to his printer. Placing the pattern on the pumpkin he began to transfer it onto the pumpkin by poking holes through the paper.

“You’re using a pattern? Lame,” Jack said, as he continued carving whatever it was he was making. Rhys glared at him, but there was no real anger in it, as he focused on his own pumpkin.

“Well, we’ll see if it’s lame after mine looks amazing,” Rhys said defensively.

That statement may have been slightly premature as Rhys looked at his finished pumpkin. Jack was practically bent over in half as he laughed, looking at it. “Yeah, still lame kiddo.” Rhys narrowed his eyes, glaring at the man who was still laughing at Rhys’s pumpkin. Yes, he had somehow messed it up, the deceptively simple pattern causing Rhys to not pay attention to where he had been carving, too focused on the movie which had been surprisingly good. And yes,one eye may be slightly bigger than the other, but seriously Jack’s couldn’t have been much better. The man had never carved a pumpkin before in his life.

“Oh yeah, well let me see yours,” Rhys demanded, as Jack turned his pumpkin towards him with a grin. Rhys’s eyes widened at it, shocked at how it had turned out. It looked downright scary, with sharp teeth and a wicked grin splitting across the bottom half. The eyes slanted down to give off an eerie vibe, but the expression wasn’t what had surprised Rhys. What had surprised him, was how good it was. Like the amount of detail that Jack had managed to carve into it was astounding, and Rhys was more than slightly jealous.

“Why did you even want to carve pumpkins in the first place?” Rhys said, pouting as he took in Jack’s pumpkin next to his. “And this can’t have been the first time that you’ve done this.”

“Yup,I’m just that amazing kiddo,” Jack smirked, causing Rhys to become slightly annoyed. How was it that Jack was just good at everything? “Plus,” he shrugged, “this seems like the kinda bullshit you’re into.”

Rhys stopped whatever response he was going to say at that, and stared at the man, stunned. Had Jack switched their plans because he thought Rhys would enjoy this more? He smiled at the thought and his earlier worries disappeared. Despite Jack making fun of his carving skills, he’d enjoyed being able to carve a pumpkin again.

He watched as Jack proceeded to produce a small bottle from who knows where, and pour it over his pumpkin. Rhys watched with horror as blood streamed down the sides of the pumpkin, making the entire thing even more terrifying than before. “Please tell me that’s fake blood,” Rhys said, his eyes wide at the now dripping, monstrous pumpkin. Jack just looked at him, then back to his pumpkin in confusion.

“Why would I use fake blood?”

Rhys stared at the pumpkin, an expression of disgust on his face. He didn’t even know why he bothered to ask.

* * *

 

The Haunted House

“Bro, it was terrifying. Like legitimately I think some of those displays aren’t fake,” Vaughn said, telling Rhys about the haunted house that Jack had set up in Helios. “Also, it’s gigantic.There’s a maze portion of it too, and it took me and some of the others almost thirty minutes to find our way out.”

“Seriously?” Rhys said, his eyes wide. He still hadn’t gone, but both of his friends had already been. Vaughn had gone with some of the other accounting workers, who’d decided to go in a group and get it over with, and Yvette had gone with someone else from her department, which left Rhys to either find someone to go with or just see if he could avoid it altogether. Currently, he was trying for the second option.

“I thought it was kind of fun,” Yvette shrugged. 

“Yeah, I mean kind of,” Vaughn agreed and Rhys frowned at the two. Of course they would be having the time of their lives in a haunted house made by Handsome Jack, which more likely than not contained at least a couple real dead bodies. It wasn’t that Rhys didn’t like haunted houses (he didn’t), but they weren’t exactly his idea of fun.

 

***

Rhys walked towards the elevator, pressing the button for the CEO’s office. Jack had called him up there for something, but he wasn’t quite sure what as they didn’t have any plans to go anywhere. And since no one even knew they were dating, Rhys had gotten more than one pitying look as he was called out of work to see their infamous CEO. He was pretty sure more than one of them thought Jack was calling him up there to ‘fire’ him.

“Jack what is this abo-”

“Why haven’t you gone to the haunted house yet Rhys?” Jack asked, cutting Rhys off mid-sentence. Rhys looked at him in surprise, then frowned at the older man. Was this why Jack had called him up there? He didn’t exactly want to tell the man that he was scared, so he opted with a slightly less truthful answer.

“I wasn’t interested,” he shrugged, trying to play it off. He hoped Jack would drop it, but the man simply narrowed his eyes at him.

“You weren’t interested? You know it’s mandatory, right babe?” Jack said, and Rhys stared defiantly back at the man.

“And?”

“Means you have to go dum-dum.” Jack rolled his eyes at Rhys. “I figured ya know, maybe you were busy and just hadn’t found the time to go yet, so because I’m such a great guy I’m giving you the rest of the day off.” 

“Wait, what?” Rhys said, dread starting to fill him.

“Come on, you and me pumpkin, we’re goin’ on a date.” Jack walked out from behind his desk, throwing his arm around the younger man and beginning to steer them out of the office.

Rhys swallowed roughly as they approached the entrance to the haunted house. It was big. Way bigger than Rhys had thought it was going to be. He was determined to hide how scared he was from the CEO, not wanting to give Jack any additional ammunition for making fun of him, as the man already had quite enough with his many failed previous dates. 

The two walked straight up, as Jack had already had it closed to the public for them, and found themselves in a dark room. Rhys instinctively grabbed onto Jack’s arm, as they made their way through, causing the older man to chuckle.

“Scared already Rhysie?” 

“I’m not scared, it’s just dark and I don’t want to trip and fall over anything,” Rhys huffed, though he wasn’t sure if Jack bought the lie or not. The room was filled with an assortment of what looked like hanging bodies that Rhys was forced to push out of the way with one arm, the other still firmly gripping Jack’s jacket. He cringed as the bodies gave way slightly under his hand, simulating real flesh, and screamed loudly as one of them moved. His grip on Jack became tighter as the ‘dead’ body turned out to be an actual person, tied up and hung from the ceiling.

“Hah, you should see the look on your face!” Jack laughed as Rhys tried to control his breathing. “By the way, don’t ever steal from the company who pays you, idiot” Jack yelled at the person. They were gagged and couldn’t answer, but they appeared to be trying to say something as Jack rolled his eyes and began to drag Rhys away. 

A soundtrack of screams and other creepy noises filled the air as Jack pulled Rhys into the next area. This one seemed to have some kind of weird mad scientist theme to it, as strange experiments and flashing lights dominated the room. Rhys could see several taxidermied creatures, or wereskags as Jack had called them, which he assumed were some of the ones Jack had ordered from Shade. They were creepy and altogether waaay to lifelike for Rhys’s taste, and was that one moving?

“Gah! Jesus Jack!” Rhys yelled as the thing moved, lunging towards them.

“Told ya’ it was gonna be awesome. Got some of the engineers to animate this thing.” Jack said, smirking. “God, cupcake, you are such a wuss,” Jack laughed, as Rhys glared at him. How could the older man be so unaffected by any of this? And of course Jack would find his terror amusing.

Rhys began to stalk off at that, just wanting to get the haunted house over with while Jack called after him. He ignored the older man, instead walking up to a hallway that was lined on both sides with dark cages. He couldn’t see what was in them, and he looked at them nervously, starting to take a step forward. A large creature slammed up against the metal bars towards Rhys, causing him to back up in alarm. It looked like one of the animatronic wereskags, and he rolled his eyes at it, and walked further down the hall. The cages were lined with the wereskags, but Rhys determinedly continued on, until he came across one of the cages that was lying open. Half of a person, or what he assumed was a person, lay on the ground in front of it, blood smeared around the edge of the cage, as well as surrounding the body. Flashing lights and the dark made it hard to see into the cage, but he could hear a sickening crunching noise like bones being cracked. He assumed another of the animatronic wereskags was going to jump out as he walked by, but this time he was prepared. 

Rhys began to step over the body, trying not to get whatever Jack had used for blood on his shoes, though knowing Jack it probably was real blood. He was edging around the cage when he realized that Jack had caught up to him, but the other man seemed freeze as he saw the open cage door, a cautious expression on his face. His eyes widened as he took in the scene in front of Rhys.

“Rhys, come here,” Jack said, his voice low as he kept his eyes carefully glued to the open cage. Rhys frowned at him, not sure if the man was simply acting this way to try and scare him or what. “I said get over here,” Jack grit out, his teeth clenched and voice slightly louder than last time.

“Drop the act Jack, I’m not falling for it. I know they’re just the stupid ‘wereskags’ you got from Shade,” Rhys said, his tone betraying his annoyance. He saw Jack reach for the gun he had holstered on his leg.

“They’re real, Rhys,” Jack replied, causing Rhys’s eyes to widen in alarm.

“What do you mean they’re real!?” Rhys asked, now starting to panic. Jack had to be joking.

“I had R&D genetically make real ones,” Jack said, beginning to creep closer to Rhys, who was now frozen in place. “Didn’t think some idiot would open the goddamn cage,” he muttered angrily.

“Why would you possibly do that!?” Rhys yelled, panic causing his voice to be louder than he intended. He heard the scuffling noises in the dark cage stop and a loud howl echoed off the walls. 

Time seemed to slow down as he saw the creature emerge from the cage out of the corner of his eye. He was still facing Jack, and he saw fear reflected in Jack’s eyes as the man saw the wereskag lunging towards the younger man. Rhys realized that he’d never seen the man scared of anything. It had been annoying him earlier, since Rhys was the only one scared as Jack made fun of him, but seeing Jack like that was unsettling. 

He was vaguely aware of Jack yelling something at him, but he couldn’t make out what the man was saying. He slowly turned around to face the wereskag, trying to will himself to move as he saw it lunging toward him with claws outstretched and mouth open wide. Rhys squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the impact and sharp pain as it tore into him, but instead he simply got the wind knocked out of him as he was thrown to the ground.

Rhys opened his eyes to see that he was now several feet away from where he’d been, and Jack was pinned to the wall by the large wereskag. He’d gotten his gun knocked out of his hand and was currently using one of his arms to hold off the thing’s snapping teeth, while the other was trying to keep its claws away. Jack was strong, but the creature was stronger and Rhys could see that Jack was fighting a losing battle. 

Rhys could see Jack’s gun on the ground and dove toward it, causing the wereskag’s attention to fall on him. It dropped Jack and let out a hair-rising howl as Rhys raised the gun with shaking hands. He’d never shot a gun before, and honestly even with his ECHO-eye his aim wasn’t the best. He took a deep breath as the wereskag lunged toward him and pulled the trigger, hearing a shriek of pain as the creature fell to the ground. 

Rhys opened his eyes, not realizing that he’d actually closed them, and saw the now dead wereskag lying at his feet. Dropping the gun, Rhys quickly ran over to where Jack was lying against a wall. The older man was bleeding, the front part of his clothes torn from where the wereskag’s claws had gotten a hold of him, but he seemed to be conscious.

“Jack?” Rhys asked, worry clear in his voice as he saw the extent of the man’s injuries. Jack was covered in blood, but he grinned at Rhys when he saw him.

“Shit babe, gotta say seeing you kill that wereskag is really doin’ it for me.”

Rhys stared at him, his mouth open in shock. The CEO couldn’t possibly be serious. “Jack, you’re bleeding out,” he stated, though the worry in his voice was overshadowed by the disbelief that Jack could possibly think this was a good time for that.

“Nah I’ve had worse, but seriously Rhysie that was hot.” Jack grinned, blood covering the man’s mask. 

“Why’d you push me out of the way?” Rhys asked, ignoring Jack’s previous statement. He couldn’t believe that Jack had basically thrown himself into harm’s way to save him. Handsome Jack, for all his talk of being a hero, wasn’t exactly the self-sacrificing type. And yet, he’d saved him. 

Jack laughed, though Rhys could see the wince that he tried to hide as the movement jarred his chest. “Well, couldn’t let you get hurt babe,” he smiled, blood trickling down from a cut on his forehead. “Can’t exactly let my boyfriend go and die on me can I?” 

Rhys looked at him in surprise, and noticed that Jack had carefully stilled as well, as if he hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “Boyfriend?” Rhys felt a blush creep up his neck as his face split into a grin. Jack had called him his boyfriend. He probably shouldn’t be this insanely happy right after almost dying, and as Jack literally lay bleeding next to him, but he couldn’t help it.

“Uh yeah, dum-dum,” Jack said, though Rhys could see the uncertainty in his expression as if Rhys was the one who wouldn’t be ok with it. Despite the metallic smell of blood covering Jack, Rhys leaned down, capturing Jack’s mouth with his own. He felt Jack grin into the kiss and felt his hands wrap around him, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. 

“Would’ve said that earlier if I knew it was gonna get a reaction like that,” Jack smirked.

“Say it again, and you might get something more,” Rhys grinned as Jack’s eyes lit up at the teasing promise. “Though later, I don’t really enjoy being covered in your blood,” Rhys added, looking down at his now ruined clothes from where he’d pressed up against Jack.

“Oh hoh kitten, give me a couple of healing hypos and we can do this now.”

“Here, seriously Jack?” Rhys made a disgusted face. “There’s a dead genetically engineered skag-human hybrid not even a foot away.”

“So just don’t look at it,” Jack said, trying to pull the younger man back into a kiss. Rhys pulled away glaring at the other man.

“After medical,” Rhys stated, holding the CEO off, who rolled his eyes at him.

“Seriously kiddo, I’m fine. Just some scratches.”

“Well, I can’t exactly let my boyfriend go and die on me, can I?” Rhys said, and somehow it was even better calling Jack his boyfriend than when the other man had called him his. Jack smirked at him.

“I’m not goin’ anywhere cupcake.”

“Well, you’d better go to medical, unless you don’t want-”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going,” Jack grumbled, leaning his weight heavily on Rhys, who led the two out. “But when we get back, that ass is mine.” 

* * *

The Halloween Ball

 

It had taken only a few hours for the healing hypos to work their magic on Jack. The doctors had confirmed Jack’s sentiments on the scratches being non-life threatening injuries, which earned Rhys an ‘I told you so’ from the man, and promises of what was come when they got home.

That had been a few days ago, and Rhys’s friends just stared at him, their eyes wide as he recalled the haunted house event. 

“Bro, that’s crazy. I knew some of those exhibits weren’t fake!” Vaughn said as Rhys told him about the wereskag. 

“And  _ you  _ killed it?” Fiona asked, one eyebrow raised. Fiona and Sasha had come up to spend Halloween with Rhys and Vaughn, and were currently eating lunch with the two while looking at Rhys with disbelief.

“Yes, Fiona. For your information, I shot it,” Rhys stated defensively, while Fiona and Sasha shared a glance before turning back to Rhys.

“If you say so,” Sasha said, though her expression showed she still didn’t fully believe him. Rhys huffed, about to say something else when he felt something on his shoulder and nearly jumped out of the chair he was in.

“A little on edge are you pumpkin?” Jack’s voice said into his ear. Rhys turned around to glare at him, noticing all his friends staring at the two with wide eyes. They hadn’t really seen Jack in person, despite Rhys and him dating but they were well aware of his reputation. He could see Vaughn swallow nervously as the CEO pulled a seat out from their table and sat down. “What’s up kiddos?” Jack asked, throwing his arm over the back of Rhys’s chair.

“What’re you doing here Jack?” Rhys asked. He wasn’t unhappy that the man was there, but being CEO didn’t exactly leave the man with a lot of free time, and he was curious as to why Jack had come to find him in person.

“We gotta get ready cupcake,” Jack grinned, causing Rhys to give him a confused expression. 

“Ready for what?”

“The Halloween Ball.”

Rhys had forgotten that Hyperion’s infamous Halloween Ball that Jack put on was tonight, and barely had time to wave and throw a slightly apologetic expression at his friends before Jack whisked him away.

 

***

“No, Jack,” Rhys said, pressing his lips into a thin line as he looked down at the costume that Jack had picked out for him. Jack had said that he had it made especially for him, but Rhys absolutely refused to wear  _ this.  _ “All of Helios is going to be there. My boss is going to be there,” Rhys hissed.

“I’m your boss sweetcheeks. Well, technically everyone’s boss.”

Rhys frowned at the older man, attempting to pull down the red spandex shorts that barely covered his ass. A short red crop top was also a part of the ensemble, and Rhys pulled at it, the thing almost skintight. Small devil horns that were perched on his head and a red tail that attached to the shorts, finished off the costume. 

Jack walked over to Rhys, the older man dressed in an all white suit with angel wings and a halo around his head.

“Why can’t I wear something like that, instead of  _ this _ ?” Rhys complained, looking enviously at Jack’s costume.

“Because then I wouldn’t get to look at you in that all night,” Jack grinned, his eyes raking over Rhys, who flushed under the attention. “Now, come on don’t wanna be late to the main event. Well, not late I guess. It technically can’t even start until I’m there,” Jack laughed, while Rhys rolled his eyes.

Jack grabbed him, not letting Rhys try to change before heading down to the Halloween Ball. When they arrived, Rhys felt like his face was on fire as he self-consciously tugged at the shorts everytime someone so much as glanced at him. Which was a lot, seeing as he was with Handsome Jack. The man seemed to have no problem with all the attention, and instead seemed to revel in it, while Rhys tried to search the crowd for his friends. He spotted them over by the food, and signaled to Jack that he was going to go over, when the CEO got held up by one of the board members.

“Yeah yeah, just be back for the main event cupcake,” Jack said, before turning his attention back to the man who’d been talking to him. Rhys had no idea what the ‘main event’ was, but he figured he wouldn’t be gone for too long, just say a quick greeting to his friends. He walked over to the food table, where he’d seen them standing.

“What are you wearing?” Sasha laughed, looking over Rhys’s costume as he approached the group. He blushed, trying to stand in a position that would cover him the most, but it was no use. 

“Jack picked it out,” Rhys muttered, as all of his friends started laughing.

“Oh, we know,” Fiona said, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

“It’s a good look for you Rhys, really shows off your  _ ass _ ets,” Yvette smirked, while even Vaughn was trying not to laugh.

“I hate you guys,” Rhys stated, moving past them to grab at one of the cookies on the table. He nibbled on it while his friends continued to laugh at him, until Sasha stopped her eyes wide.

“Who is that?” she asked, pointing towards a woman that was currently standing next to Jack. A little too close to Jack, if Rhys was being honest. And if he was being honest, she was stunning.

She was dressed as some kind of sexy police officer, the gun strapped to her waist looking a little too real, as she grinned at something that Jack was saying. Rhys didn’t even register that he was walking toward them, but he suddenly found himself in front of the pair. He tried to keep his face neutral, but a hot feeling of jealousy washed over him as he saw the woman put a hand on one of Jack’s shoulders. She was even more beautiful up close, and that made him feel even worse.

“Hi, I’m Rhys,” Rhys introduced stepping close to the pair, a frown on his face as he stuck out his hand toward the woman. She seemed unfazed by his sudden statement, but raked her eyes appreciatively over him.

“Jackie, did you get me a present?” she asked, grinning up at Jack.

“Sorry babe, this one’s all mine,” Jack said, snaking his arm around Rhys to pull him flush to his side. “Rhysie, this is Nisha. She’s my head of security.”

“Too bad, we could’ve had fun,” Nisha smirked. “These handcuffs aren’t just for show.”

Rhys felt his face heat up at that, as Jack grinned. “Well, maybe we’ll borrow them for later,” he said, causing Rhys to blush even more. 

“Just let me know cowboy,” she winked, starting to walk away from them. “Now, I’m gonna go enjoy that open bar.”

“It’s not an open bar Nish,” Jack said, yelling after her.

“Doesn’t matter to me, you’re still paying,” she turned around to wink at him, while Jack frowned at her.

“Don’t even know why I pay you when you just put everything under my tab anyway,” Jack muttered, while Rhys watched the pair’s interaction.

“Who was that?” he asked, going for cavalier but missing the mark entirely. Jack returned his attention to the younger man, grinning at him.

“Old friend. Why, you jealous Rhysie?” Jack said. Rhys remained silent, not wanting to admit that he was in fact, jealous. 

“No,” Rhys lied, though Jack smirked at him. 

“No need to be jealous babe,” Jack said, pulling Rhys closer into a kiss. Rhys smiled at that, not caring that they were literally surrounded by all of Helios, as he leaned in, pressing himself up against Jack. Rhys felt Jack’s hands wrap around him, dropping down to grab his butt, and he jumped in slight surprise as Jack grinned into the kiss. “God, cupcake, I can’t wait to see that costume on my floor.”

“Well then,” Rhys smirked, pulling back slightly from Jack to give him a teasing look. “Why don’t we ditch this party and go somewhere more private?”

“I like the way you think,” Jack grinned smugly. He grabbed Rhys’s hand and started to drag him out of the room. A girlish shriek sounded from behind them, and Rhys stopped to see what all the fuss was about. On a stage near the center of the room, Vasquez stood dripping in blood, his eyes furious. 

Rhys spun around to look at Jack. “Did you?” asked Rhys, knowing that this was the ‘main event’ that Jack had been referring to earlier.

“Anything for you, cupcake.” Rhys grabbed Jack and roughly pulled his face towards his own. After a bit the kiss melted into something more heated and Rhys had to pull away in search of breath.

“Oh Rhysie, have I got some plans for you tonight,” Jack gave him a feral grin, and a blush colored Rhys’s cheeks in anticipation. 

“Hey Jack?” Rhys said, biting his lip.

“Yeah, sweetcheeks?” Jack asked.

“Happy Halloween,” Rhys gave the man a light peck on the cheek. It was less passionate than the other kiss they’d just shared, but intimate in a way that the other wasn’t. Jack smiled at Rhys, and Rhys realized how rare it was to see the man actually smile. It was nice, and Rhys smiled back.

“Happy Halloween kiddo.” 

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone cares this is the inspiration for this, http://sassy-assassin.tumblr.com/post/151533369887/since-its-october-here-are-some-poorly-edited
> 
> Also, that is my tumblr if anyone wants to check it out.


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